Artist in Residence Project Legacy - West Point Grey Community Centre

In 2018, West Point Grey Community Centre Association was part of an Artist in Community Residency, supported by the Vancouver Park Board, West Point Grey Community Centre and the Jericho Stewardship Group.

Beat a Path was an artist initiated project which invited the public to explore West Point Grey Community Centre and surrounding geography in unique and unexpected ways with artist, educator, and curator, Holly Schmidt. This project explored the social, cultural and historical forces shaping the West Point Grey community of tomorrow through dialogue and exchange. Community members practiced the art of taking notice through a year of events including workshops, walks, momentary exchanges and communal eating as a way to see the urban landscape of our everyday lives anew. The residency events can be viewed at https://www.beatapath.ca/archive

All the Trees was part of the Beat a Path residency that encouraged visitors to take a closer look at the trees around the West Point Grey Community Centre and Jericho Park and to communicate with those trees. Thirty trees were tagged with an ID Number, an email address and an invitation to send a personal message to the tree. Holly Schmidt and a curated group including historian John Atkin, horticulturalist Egan Davis, poet Rahat Kurd, and indigenous herbalist, Lori Snyder responded to the emails on behalf of the trees. This was commemorated with a series of 24 posters showcasing some of the emails and responses that were sent. The posters were supported by the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre for exhibition in the Great Hall. All the public responses to the trees can be viewed at https://www.beatapath.ca/responses

The posters can be viewed individually by clicking on the links below. Please note there are 24 different posters that look at the email that was sent to the tree and the response that was given.